TONYKids blog

Candy Land gets a makeover

Thu Jul 23

Attention classic board game aficionados (and yes, we know you love playing them as much—if not more so—than your brood!): Candy Land is being revamped in honor of its upcoming 60th birthday. (Suddenly you feel young, huh?)
A sweetly simple game along the lines of Chutes and Ladders, it's hard not to get addicted to its colorful charms as players race to get to King Candy's castle. The updated version, dubbed
Candy Land Sweet Celebration
, ups the ante: The first one at the royal door wins a party (strictly imaginary of course. Good luck explaining that to Junior). Plus, players will be able to build a freestanding board with interlocking pieces, so the path can be varying lengths. The makers are also throwing in two new destinations--Captain Kidd Cone's Ship, the SS Neapolitan, and the Chunky Chocolate Mountains) and 3D "Sweet Spots"—to heighten the vicarious sugar rush.
We have to say, in an era of healthy eating, it takes chutzpah to keep Candy Land, well, filled with...

Share your parental wisdom with other moms and dads

Thu Jul 16

Our friend Brett Berk, a.k.a. everyone's favorite gay uncle, alerted us to this opportunity for opinionated parents which, being New York moms and dads, we're going to assume you are (I know I am!) A writer named Heidi Stevens has launched a new column for the Tribune papers, The Parent 'Hood, in which real moms and dads write in with questions, and get answers from their peers. That's right: You no longer have to quietly cluck at the bad mommies in your neighborhood. You can tell them what you think (well...if they happen to live in an area that's serviced by Tribune publications). If you have a succinct solution to any of the issues listed below, e-mail your answers to parenthood@tribune.com. Be sure to include your first and last name, your hometown and a mention of the question you're responding to.
Upcoming topics:
1. You've gotten in the bad habit of buying your child a "special treat" every time he/she behaves at Target. Now he/she expects a gift every time you enter a store....

iPhone app maps out public toilets in the city

Tue Jul 14

It's every parent's nightmare: You're out on the town with your little one when the dreaded statement comes: "I gotta use the potty!" Then begins the lengthy search for a (preferably clean) bathroom. Now you can avoid frantic emergencies with the cool iPhone application
Diaroogle
, which maps out toilets in Manhattan (other boroughs to follow). You can search by street, zip or even by nearby parks and landmarks, and many of the results offer snapshots taken by locals who have seen the pooping palace firsthand. And with a rating for each porcelain thrown, you'll always know what to expect (and how much hand sanitizer you'll need) at each spot.
This isn't the first time someone has attempted to round up local porcelain thrones:
mizpee.com
and
sitorsquat.com
got there first. Which one do you use? Or do you just take your chances?

Kids defend Heidi Klum's privacy at West Village park

Fri Jul 10

It's tough being a parent in NYC, and tougher still for celebrity moms and dads, who can't even take their kids to the park without the paparazzi hounding them. Just ask Heidi Klum: Last Friday, she thought she'd let her kids have a bit of fun in a West Village playground, but soon found herself hounded by photographers who relentlessly documented the outing from just outside the park. Aggravated at the disruption--not to mention the invasion of privacy--the other parents in the park asked the lensmen to leave. When the photogs persisted, the parents went straight to the local cops who explained that as long as they remained outside the playground, the shutterbugs were within their rights. After a couple of hours, some parents were so miffed they turned vigilante, encouraging their kids to lob water balloons at the paps.
"It wasn't right," says one parent who was there, "and I told my kid that's not how we deal with things. But, honestly, I'm kind of glad it happened."
Klum and...